# Progressive disclosure

Concept · [Building with AI](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/ai)

Also called: load on demand, just-in-time context, progressively disclose, show more, advanced settings

Giving an [agent](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/ai-agent) only what it needs right now, with pointers to the rest, instead of loading everything at the start. The term comes from interface design, where an app shows the basic options first and the advanced ones on request.

**For example:** A [skill](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/agent-skills)'s short description tells the [agent](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/ai-agent) what it is for, and the full [instructions](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/prompt) load only when the agent decides to use it.

## Connects to (8)

- [Context pointer](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/context-pointer): A short mention in one document that tells an agent where to find more, such as 'deployment steps are in the deploy guide'.
- [Agent skills](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/agent-skills): A packaged set of instructions, sometimes with scripts, that an agent loads when a task calls for it, such as how to write a press release…
- [AGENTS.md](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/agents-md): A plain text file in a project that many coding agents read automatically at the start of every session.
- [Attention budget](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/attention-budget): A way of picturing attention as a fixed amount each token can spread across everything else in the input.
- [Context window](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/context-window): How much text an LLM can take into account at one time.
- [UX / UI](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/ux-ui): UI, the user interface, is what people see and tap on the screen.
- [Onboarding](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/onboarding): The first steps a new user takes in a product: signing up, setting it up and learning enough to get value from it.
- [Design system](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/design-system): A shared set of design rules and ready-made interface pieces, such as buttons, colors and type, so every screen looks and works…

Map view: https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/progressive-disclosure